Archive for June, 2009

They said it couldn’t be done. They said the radio simply wouldn’t allow it. But that, as it turns out, is hooey. Despite Apple’s protestations to the contrary, it appears that the original iPhone is perfectly capable of sending and receiving Multimedia Messages (MMS).

Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s necessarily an above-board way to, in the words of Jean-Luc Picard, make it so. However, if you happen to have jailbroken your phone and have access to the Cydia installer, you can find an application called, intuitively enough, ActivateMMS2G.

Now, your results may vary, and even if you do manage to get MMS enabled, its use may be limited by your wireless provider, so, as always, proceed at your own risk. The package also advises not installing on the 3G or 3GS, so, well, don’t.

Frankly, Apple’s claim always seemed to be a little suspect to me. There are plenty of cheap and free phones on the market that handle MMS adroitly and have been doing so for years—you’re telling me that one of the most advanced smartphones on the market in 2007 couldn’t deal with sending picture messages?

We have now tested this with an iPhone 2G running on the UK Vodafone network and with the correct settings it works perfectly sending and receiving MMS.

The HTC Hero is the world’s first Android-based phone with a customised user interface. With HTC Sense technology, the HTC Hero is focused on putting people in the centre, by making your phone work in a more simple and natural way. The 3.2-inch HVGA display is optimised for Web, multimedia and other content while maintaining a small size and weight that fits comfortably in your hand. It boasts an in-built GPS receiver, digital compass, gravity-sensor, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a 5 mega-pixel autofocus camera and a microSD memory slot.

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If you are already over-excited about the HTC Hero, and who can blame you, then you might want to consider pre-ordering the handset from devicewire.com

Pre-ordering is the only way you can ensure that you’ll be one of the first to receive the handset as initial supplies are expected to be somewhat limited. The price of the SIM-free handset will be £399.99 which is strangely cheaper than the HTC Magic that we unboxed earlier!

HTC Hero is the first phone to embody HTC Sense™ – an intuitive, seamless experience built upon three fundamental principles – make it mine, stay close, and discover the unexpected.

HTC Hero’s design sets the phone apart not just in how distinct it looks, but how great it feels. Make it your Hero with personalisation that let you create a phone that uniquely fits your life. Feel closer than ever to those that matter with a communication experience based on people – rather than technology. And discover unexpected, yet intuitive, touches that make everything you do on your phone effortless and delightful.

With HTC Hero, personalization reaches a level never before possible. Rather than burying important content under layers of menus, the HTC Hero lets you put it at glance view, with a selection of widgets that can be placed right on the home screen. The widgets themselves can be personalized with a variety of designs and sizes that best match your personality.

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Edward from msmobiles met up with Mickey Papillon at the weekend and has recorded a video interview with the Cell Phone Junkie host discussing many things.

Mickey is not only showing his gadgets, but also is talking about cellphone issues pertinent to Americans travelling abroad, such as using CDMA phones in GSM networks abroad, using Google Voice for international roaming, getting cheap mobile Internet access and how to call to USA from abroad cheaply.

The video is after the break.

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O2 today announced that its mobile broadband customers will have access to thousands of BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots for the first time. The partnership, which existing customers will see come into effect today (1), coincides with an upgrade (2) to O2’s Mobile Broadband Connection Manager software, enabling users to manage their data consumption more effectively.

The deal with BT Openzone offers an additional 3,000 hotspots (including most branches of Starbucks), and builds on the unlimited Wi-Fi all O2 customers benefit from with their O2 mobile broadband tariff.

O2 will also be upgrading its Connection Manager software. The new software will automatically copy existing Wi-Fi profiles from a customer’s laptop into Connection Manager during the initial installation process. This will seamlessly connect users to their home or business broadband wireless networks, without the need to manually enter security codes.

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Top mobile telephone suppliers have agreed to back an EU-wide harmonization of phone chargers, the European Commission said on Monday, hailing the pact as good news for consumers and the environment.

The agreement by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other industry majors will mean phones compatible with standard charging devices are available in Europe from next year, said the EU executive, which has pushed for such a deal.

"People will not have to throw away their charger whenever they buy a new phone," said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, estimating that unwanted phone accessories accounted for thousands of tons of waste in Europe each year.

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The HTC Magic is the second handset from HTC to be powered by the Android OS following fairly closely behind the hugely popular G1. The HTC Magic can be purchased SIM-free for around £500 but on-contract it’s a Vodafone exclusive. £500 seems a little steep to me when you consider that you can get the HTC Touch Pro2 for a similar amount of money and that has a QWERTY keyboard, larger screen etc.

The Vodafone HTC Magic

HTC and Android devices have been in the news a lot lately with the launch of the new HTC Hero last week so it’ll be interesting to review the HTC Magic now just in time to compare it to the new Hero when that goes on sale in a few weeks time.

HTC Magic unboxing video

The HTC Magic is an Android™-powered mobile designed to turn heads with its chic design, and command attention with its advanced list of capabilities. Ready to always keep you in the know… it provides the Google suite of services like Mail, Search and Maps geared up for use in the palm of your hand. Further enhanced with video capture and support for tunes via Bluetooth wireless headsets, the HTC Magic is a true entertainment and media powerhouse.

You and your friends dancing the night away, or laughing ‘til it hurts … these are the moments you want captured forever. With HTC Magic’s video recording capability, you now can. But that’s not all, sharing your video is now trouble-free. Send the video by email, MMS or even publish your new masterpiece directly to YouTube™ right from your phone.

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We’ve heard about the awesome treats loaded on the iPhone 3GS and its new fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coated body, but did you know that it also possesses some amphibious traits as well? This short video demonstrates how an iPhone 3GS managed to stay alive even after taking a brief dip into the swimming pool. We’re not exactly sure if there are any long term effects to this heart-stopping and jaw-dropping accident, but I guess there weren’t any immediate problems as they still got the chance to upload the video of this amazing yet horrific tale. Granted that this news of the iPhone 3GS being slightly water-proof is certainly good to hear, we wouldn’t suggest you go out and try this one out for yourself. Just enjoy the video and be thankful you’re not the clumsy dude who dropped his new iPhone 3G S into the pool.

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Dr Jim Taylor has written a great piece for Tilt Mobility and he has kindly let us share it with you, Here is what he has to say on the subject of the Windows Mobile 6.5 start menu.

In the eternal search for the ideal mobile phone set-up, I have flashed up to EnergyROM 3.0 with WM 6.5. The new OS is great: fast, stable, and mostly functional. But I have to ask Microsoft a question: What were you thinking when you designed the new Start Menu?!?!?

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Incase you missed it, there are just a few more days left before our Nokia E75 competition closes, follow the link below and get your skates on for a chance to win!

Win the new Nokia E75!

Win the new Nokia E75 smartphone and you’ll be able to manage your business and personal life. Type quickly with the side-slide design, check email on the fly and browse the internet in your free time.

The Nokia E75 has a 2.4 inch, 320×240 screen and Quad-band GSM/GPRS and HSDPA/WCDMA connectivity to keep you in touch. The slide out finger-friendly QWERTY keyboard makes this phone ideal for heavy emails use.

All you have to do to have a chance of winning this great prize is answer one simple question. The closing date for entries is midnight on Tuesday 30th June 2009.

If you can’t wait to find out if you’ve won to get your hands on a Nokia E75 click here.